 Darjeeling is a small district in the extreme north of India’s West Bengal State in the

Himalayan foothills. Darjeeling tea is famous and popular throughout the world for its high
quality, with a reputation based on its aroma, brightness and taste – all attributable to its
geographical origin and impossible to replicate. The quality, reputation and characteristics
of Darjeeling tea are essentially attributable to its geographical origin. Darjeeling tea
benefits from a world-wide reputation and has no problem over market access, tea is grown
in the region of the Darjeeling hills in 87 gardens at various elevations up to 2 000 metres. e.
In 2004, Darjeeling tea became the first product in India to be registered under the
Geographical Indications of Goods. The Tea Board of India is the owner of the Darjeeling tea
registered quality sign, while the producers, processors, traders, blenders, packers, brokers,
exporters etc. in the supply chain are its users.
 Population

According to the most recent census (2001), the population of the district was 1.6 million,
with 33 percent living in the three hill towns of Darjeeling, Kurseong (1 482 metres above
sea level) and Kalimpong (1 249 metres above sea level). Darjeeling town has an additional
average floating tourist population of 20 500 to 30 000. The population density of the town
is 10 173 per square kilometre. The literacy rate in the district is 81 percent for men and 64
percent for women.

Economy and agriculture

The two main economic activities in the region, generating the most employment and
revenue, are tea manufacturing and tourism. However, tourism is confined to several
tourism spots and is seasonal (from April to June and from September to October): tourists
prefer to avoid the area in the rainy season because of frequent landslides. The economic
benefits of tourism reach only a small proportion of the population.

Tea is thus more important than tourism. It is the main crop in the region and is grown over
a vast area of hilly land, covering 17 542 hectares divided into 87 estates. After the first 3
commercial tea estates were established at Tukvar in 1852, the area under tea expanded
gradually to 39 estates in 1866, 56 in 1870 and 113 in 1874. Today there are 87 tea
plantations in and around Darjeeling town, producing superfine Darjeeling tea. The average
yield is very low – 400 to 450 kilograms per hectare, compared with the national average of
1 800 kilograms per hectare. The tea-growing zone has reached saturation point and there is
little scope for further expansion. Other cash crops grown in non-tea hilly areas include
potatoes, oranges, cardamom, ginger, maize and various vegetables. Small quantities of
certain medicinal plants are also grown, while floriculture is expanding in some non-tea
areas. Farming on terraced slopes is a major source of livelihood for rural inhabitants,
supplying neighbouring towns with fruit and vegetables.

Ownership patterns
 All the tea estates are permanently owned by the West Bengal State Government, which leases the
land to the growers on a fixed-rent basis for a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 99 years,
renewable after expiry of the lease. These leases can be transferred or sold.

Delimitation of the zone

Administrative boundaries

The entire tea-growing zone – 17 542 hectares spread over 87 tea estates – is under the administrative
jurisdiction of Darjeeling District. The estates are located in three subdivisions of the district – Sadar,
Kurseong and Kalimpong – under the provincial administration of the West Bengal State Government.
The Tea Board of India defines Darjeeling tea as follows: Tea which has been cultivated, grown,
produced, manufactured and processed in tea gardens:

• in the hilly areas of Sadar Subdivision,

• only in the hilly areas of Kalimpong Subdivision comprising Samabeong Tea Estate, Ambiok Tea Estate,
Mission Hill Tea Estate, and Kumai Tea Estate and Kurseong Subdivision excluding the areas in
jurisdiction list 20, 21, 23, 24, 29, 31, and 33 comprising Subtiguri Subdivision of New Chumta Tea Estate,
Simulbari and Marionbari Tea Estate of Kurseong Police station,

• in Kurseong Subdivision of Darjeeling District

Geographical boundaries

Each estate in the delimited tea zone has its own factory, as required under the definition of Darjeeling
tea provided by the Tea Board: Tea which has been cultivated, grown, produced, manufactured and
processed in tea gardens in the hilly areas ... of the district of Darjeeling in the State of West Bengal,
India. Tea which has been processed and manufactured in a factory located in the aforesaid area, which,
when brewed, has a distinctive, naturally occurring aroma and taste with light tea liquor and the infused
leaf of which has a distinctive fragrance.

Leaves from the few tea estates that do not have their own factories are processed on neighbouring
estates. The leaves have to be delivered to the factory for weighing and withering immediately after
picking, because the tender two-leaves-and-one-bud shoots are easily perishable. Otherwise the quality
of the picked leaves may deteriorate, affecting the final quality of the made tea. The factory must
therefore be located in the production area, either on the estate or nearby. For obvious reasons, the
production and processing zones must therefore be identical.